Analysis method for revealing human and organisational factors of occupational accidents with movement disturbance (OAMDs)

Abstract

Slips, trips and other movement disturbances account for 20 to 30% of recorded occupational accidents (OAs). The causal representations of these accidents hamper their prevention. An analysis method dedicated to occupational accidents with movement disturbance (OAMDs) has been developed to change these representations. In France, the causal tree method (CTM) is very commonly used for analysing OAs. An initial version of an OAMD analysis method, which overcomes the problems encountered when analysing these accidents using the CTM, has been developed. This OAMD analysis method was reviewed by six targeted prevention officers and as a result some proposals have been discarded and this initial version has been transformed into three additional CTM modules. The purpose of these modules is to identify human and organisational factors and provide a formal representation of damage caused, beyond bodily injuries.

Practitioner summary: A method for analysing occupational accidents triggered by a slip, a trip or any other movement disturbance has been developed in consideration of the practices and constraints in companies. In particular, this method allows us to highlight the human and organisational factors involved in the accident situation.

Abbreviations: OA: occupational accident; OAMD: occupational accident with movement disturbance; CTM: causal tree method

Keywords:

• ‘Slips
• trips
• and falls’
• accident with movement disturbance
• safety at work
• analysis method
• anthropocentric approach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the six prevention officers trained in the HSE Department at Bretagne Sud University and their respective companies for their critical and constructive appraisals of the analysis method. Their contribution was essential to the adopted approach. The authors would also like to thank CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) researcher Béatrice Cahour for developing a training course aimed at prevention officer awareness of elicitation interviews and their preparation for conducting victim interviews to understand what happened at the moment of movement disturbance. This contribution constitutes a core component of the training.

Notes

1 The ratio between the number of OAs with time-off multiplied by 1000 and the population of workers concerned.

2 Expressing the deviation characteristic of the OA featuring in OA models (cf. Kjellen, 2000 for example).

3 French regulations require assessment of occupational risks, which is reported in a document ("document unique d’évaluation des risques") that includes preventive actions associated with each risk; this document must be updated annually.